Those skilled in the art will recognize that shoes and other footwear are exposed to various contaminants including, sand, dirt, mud, fecal matter, construction waste, garbage, or other noxious substances. Perhaps the most odious example is animal excrement, such as dog feces, or cow dung, but mere dirt and earth often cakes and collects on the bottom of footwear, such as the boots of a person working in a garden or the shoes of a person walking on a muddy trail. These contaminants are tracked into buildings when a person wearing soiled shoe enters them. It is unacceptable to have large “globs” of soil, particularly excrement, accumulate on the doormat, for example, where it may be tracked through the entryway and into the buildings by subsequent users; cleaning doormats, in turn, is a notoriously difficult and unpleasant task.
Using a conventional water hose to clean a shoe sole is not practical because it typically dampens the shoe upper and splashes water and contaminants onto the user. Numerous shoe and foot cleaning devices include means for producing a wide or panoramic spray pattern, which would wet both the shoe and the wearer. Other types of such apparatus employ rotating brushes powered from an electrical power source or stationary brushes.
Shoe cleaning devices using liquids such as water offer several design challenges. Fundamentally, the device must contain and control the water sprays so they strike and clean the desired portions e.g., bottom and sides of the shoe without wetting the user's leg and other portions e.g., top of the shoe while using as little water as possible.
Numerous attempts have been made and several prior art devices are known for cleaning a footwear or more specifically a footwear sole. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific purposes to which they address, however, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,972 to Goodman discloses an automatic foot washer comprising a pressurized water source and a flexible valve hose, a grated actuating platform and an actuator lever that is operatively contacts the flexible valve hose to, when a person steps on the actuator platform, open the valve assembly and establish communication of the pressurized water source and the plurality of spray outlets to spray water through the plurality of spray holes over the grated actuating platform and onto a person's feet, ankles, and calves.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,959 to Bleth teaches a shoe cleaning device using liquid sprays and including a housing having a U-shaped opening. Crisscrossing, upwardly directed sprays then strike and clean the shoe bottom while downwardly directed side sprays clean the shoe sides. Any portions of the upwardly directed, crisscrossing sprays not striking the user's shoe are captured in the opposing side portions of the U-shaped opening and directed into the base portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,636 to Schlem describes a footwear cleaning apparatus that includes an upper frame for supporting the user to stand upright while cleaning footwear being placed over a foot platform on a lower frame. A hose directs water upwardly onto the footwear sole. The apparatus further comprises two side brushes, a scraper assembly for cleaning the sole and sides of the footwear.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,398 to Thompson discloses a hands free foot scrubber comprising a raised foot pad area having bristles on an upper surface and an enclosed refillable bladder containing liquid soap fitting within the under surface below the foot pad. Foot pressure causes soap to be released on to the foot pad to facilitate hands free feet cleaning. The mat includes water drain holes and suction cups on the bottom of the mat and bladder which hold the components in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,842 to Wilke et al. describes a method and apparatus for dispensing a fluid of mixed disinfectant and water in a spray to footwear of a worker, the apparatus comprises a housing including a base section, a platform attached to the base section, a fluid dispensing assembly coupled to the housing, and a fluid dispensing system of mixed disinfectant and water when a force is applied to the platform so that the spray of the fluid is dispensed onto the footwear.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,339 to Mayers teaches a device for cleaning footwear soles including an H-shaped base frame formed of hollow tubes having a vertical water inlet line upwardly extending therefrom at a predetermined angle to deliver multiple pressurized streams of water to effectively clean a user's footwear sole while minimizing splashing of a user or a user's shoe.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,500,488 to Long discloses an apparatus for removing soil from footwear comprising a spray nozzle connected to a plunger having a discharge opening in its upper end, so that stepping on the plunger actuates a flow of water there through. The nozzle includes a return spring that biases the valve back to the closed position when the plunger is released.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,725,974 to Hughes describes a cleaning and disinfecting system for footwear or feet. The system is automatically activated only when a person stands on the device. Optionally, a venturi component allows the addition of a cleaning or disinfecting fluid with the cleaning solution or water, further it comprises an optional brush on a wand provides cleaning to upper foot areas as required.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,877,826 to Franklin teaches a foot washing station comprising a foot platform; a valve connected to a water supply; an actuator operably coupled to the valve; opposing spray members having plurality of nozzles are downwardly directed to knock debris off the lower leg and foot of a user to thus wash the debris away in a hands-free operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,603,504 to Cruz et al. discloses a footwear cleaning apparatus that includes a box having an open top surface for receiving a piece of footwear; and a plurality of brushes arrayed within the box, a plurality of nozzles emit a pressurized spray of water at the footwear.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,622,642 to Braaten et al. teaches a device for cleaning of footwear in connection with use of construction site vehicles; the device comprises a water pump, nozzles and water pipe, an air compressor system, housing that receiving the footwear to be cleaned. The device uses a sensor to automatically flush the footwear with water via the water pump and immediately thereafter to blow the footwear dry with air from the compressor.
U.S. Pat. Application No. 2004/0230144 to Weinberger describes a cleaning and/or massage device, comprising suction cups to fix the footwear in a position and a hydraulic drive which can be connected to a multiway valve of a water supply line and drives a brush in a rotating manner.
U.S. Pat. Application No. 2010/0299828 to Shapiro describes a self-contained pressure activated foot washer comprising a basin having a plurality of dispensing heads; a water reservoir, an air compressor; and a pump. Water and air is combined and emitted though said dispensing heads to remove debris from said persons' feet into the bottom of the basin.
It is apparent now that numerous innovations that are adapted to footwear sole cleaning have been developed in the prior art and that they are adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. Thus a hands-free portable footwear sole cleaning device for enhanced cleaning of the bottom of the footwear sole and method of operation is needed.